New Mexico State Road 53
State highway in New Mexico, United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
State Road 53 (NM 53) is a state highway in the US state of New Mexico. Its total length is approximately 86 miles (138 km). NM 53's western terminus is a continuation as Arizona State Route 61 (AZ 61) at the Arizona border west-southwest of Zuni, and the eastern terminus at NM 122 in the village of Grants.
State Road 53 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 NM-53 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by NMDOT | ||||
| Length | 86.002 mi[1] (138.407 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end |  SR 61 at the Arizona border near Zuni | |||
| East end |  NM 122 in Grants | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | New Mexico | |||
| Counties | Cibola, McKinley | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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History
NM 53 was originally the east end of NM 54 and then after 1927 a short route extending west from Grants, it was extended over old NM 36 to the Arizona border by the 1940s. It was renamed as NM 53 to avoid confusion with U.S. Route 54 (US 54). In the 1940s, NM 53 was extended northeast from Milan to San Mateo, a small town near Mt. Taylor. The segment from Milan to San Mateo was renumbered NM 605 in 1988.
Major intersections
| County | Location | mi[2] | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McKinley | | 0.000 | 0.000 |  SR 61 south | Continuation into Arizona |
| | 21.147 | 34.033 |   NM 602 north | Southern terminus of NM 602 | |
| | 21.614 | 34.784 |  NM 36 south | Northern terminus of NM 36 | |
| Cibola | Grants | 85.600– 85.700 | 137.760– 137.921 |  I-40 – Albuquerque, Gallup | I-40 exit 81 |
| 86.002 | 138.407 |   Historic US 66 (NM 122) | Eastern terminus; serves Cibola General Hospital; road continues north unpaved as Lava Road | ||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
